The Haunted House
by rhead-a-holyc
Summary: Hermione tells the tale of the Haunted House around a campfire. No magic. One shot. Challenge fic.


**_Disclaimer: _**** I do not own Harry Potter**

**Challenge fic for ****_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Competiton/Challenge_**

**[Ghoul Studies]**** Prompts: A character must tell a scary story; Haunted House; Campfire; Scared; I will never sleep again; Blood; Gasp; A character must hurt another character.**

**And ****_The Greenhouses Competition_**** [****Chrysanthemum (yellow)]**

**_The Haunted House_**

They were sitting around the campfire near the forest.

They did not dare go inside the forest during the night as the forest was extremely dark and there were many rumours surrounding the forest. There were tales of the forest being haunted and on the other side of the forest was a haunted house.

"Hey do you guys want to hear the story of the ghosts of the haunted house on the other side of the forest?" Hermione asked as everyone settled in and huddled together to keep warm.

"Sure, why not?" Padma asked, shivering slightly. She hoped the story would get her mind off the freezing cold.

The others around the campfire groaned. Hermione enjoyed her stories very much and could probably recite the entire Grimms Fairytales by heart. They could not deny their curiosity though. It was amazing how much Hermione would research for everything.

"There once was a queen. It is said that she was one of the original four Founders of the Kingdom who were the rulers before their bloodlines died out. She was well known and liked by all the people. She like the others had a single possession that was said to be enchanted."

Ron snorted loudly and Hermione smacked him on the back of him head.

"Her possession was a diadem that was said to grant the wearer knowledge," Hermione started before she was cut off again.

"What is a diadem?" Ron asked confused.

"Weasley really? A diadem is like a tiara you twit," Draco sneered at him from across the fire.

Harry sighed, those two would never stop fighting. "Hermione please continue."

"Her daughter grew jealous of the fame of her mother and stole her mother's diadem," Hermione managed to say before she was interrupted yet again.

"Why though? Would she have not just inherited it after her mother died?" Pansy commented.

Hermione glared. "Do you want me to finish the story or not?"

"Sorry."

"She hid the diadem in a tree trunk after she ran away from the castle her mother stayed in. Her mother missed her dearly. When her mother was on her death bed, there was word that her daughter had been sighted. She sent one of her men out to try and convince her daughter to return home. She wanted to see her daughter one last time," Hermione said sadly.

"The information had been correct and the hunter found her daughter but her daughter did not want to return. She did not want to face her mother after stealing her mother's most treasured artifact. She was scared of what reaction her mother would have. Her mother had already forgiven her for that though and only wanted to see her so she told the hunter to bring her daughter back."

"The hunter, however, loved the daughter and knew how much she meant to her mother. So one night when the daughter slept, he crept in through her window intent on kidnapping her back home but she was a light sleeper and had woken when he stepped on a creaking floorboard thinking he was someone trying to kill her."

Pansy gasped. "I will never go to sleep again! Well at least not without someone else nearby."

Hermione ignored her, "She tried fought against the hunter when he came near her. It was not entirely clear what happened next but one of the hunter's knives found their way into the daughter's body. She gasped, causing the hunter to still and realize that she had been hurt. She died not long after. The hunter was horrified at what he had done despite it not being entirely his fault."

"The hunter made it back to the castle of the mother to tell her of her daughter's death. He was found dead not long after, many bloody cuts littering his body. It was said that he had committed suicide for his part in killing the daughter."

"The daughter and the hunter's ghosts remain in the Haunted House across the forest, more commonly known as the Forbidden Forest, as that was the place where the mother had died."

Hermione ended the story and silence descended around the campfire.

"So why are people scared of the ghosts?" Ron asked confused.

"Would you find it pleasing to look at two people who have blood all over them and look like they are supposed to be dead wandering around? If you do then by all means, go visit the Haunted House tonight," Draco said.

Ron flushed angrily.

"Oh give it a break you two. It's late enough already, try not to keep everyone else up with your arguments," Harry yawned.

They slowly broke away into their various tents for the night, Pansy making sure there was someone else in the tent with her.


End file.
